Huang Zongxi also passed the imperial examination.

Only Gu Yanwu failed the exam.

After the joint examination, there is the palace examination.

In the Ming Dynasty, before the palace examination, one had to take a re-examination, which was held in the Jianji Hall in the Forbidden City (called the Baohe Hall in the Qing Dynasty).

After the re-examination, candidates will be given some time to rest.

On April 21 of the same year, the palace examination was still held in Jianji Hall.

The palace examination lasted only one day, and the papers were handed in at dusk.

Not all of these papers were given to the emperor alone to read, but there were eight examiners who helped to mark them.

The examiner will mark the paper after reading it.

There are five types of symbols: circle, triangle, slash, vertical bar and cross.

The more circles there are, the better the paper is.

The ten papers with the most circles will be presented to Emperor Chongzhen for his review.

Chongzhen wanted to pick out three of the ten papers and give them the first place in the imperial decree.

These three people are the top three in the imperial examination.

On April 20th, Chongzhen personally went to Jianji Hall to observe the layout of the examination room.

"Yunnan Tang News! Yunnan Tang News!" a young eunuch shouted as he ran into the Jianji Hall.

After Chongzhen took the newspaper, he read it several times and finally a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

"Your Majesty, Li Dingguo has recaptured the capital of Yunnan without a single drop of blood, which is a great achievement!"

"Yes, it is indeed a great achievement! Copy this letter and send a copy to Qin Liangyu. Li Dingguo is a general under her command, so she should be told the news." Chongzhen instructed Wang Chengen.

Wang Chengen replied yes, holding the newspaper, ran to the desk and started copying.

"Your Majesty, the Minister of Revenue Fang Yuegong is here to see you by imperial decree." The young eunuch outside the door stepped into the palace, knelt at the door and shouted.

"Let him in."

Fang Yuegong lowered his head and walked into the Palace of Heavenly Purity: "I wonder why Your Majesty summoned me here?"

"How is the preparation for collecting summer grain going?" Chongzhen asked.

The imperial court collected summer and autumn grains in May and September every year. After two consecutive years of tax exemption, the Ming Dynasty began to levy taxes again.

Chongzhen was worried about encountering resistance.